Hello everyone, I've not posted for a while but I've been keeping up to date with everything !

Anyway,I was browsing the Trailblazer-guides website the other day and had a look at the 2010 edition of the Henry Stedman C2C book....and saw that some people have been posting updates re the route/general info etc.

This may have already been mentioned in other threads/posts previously but I just thought it may be of interest to some of you, especially anyone doing the walk this year.

I am all booked up for my 4th crossing this summer hence my browsings and keeping up to date with all things C2C !

I encountered more cattle in 32 hours on the Dales Way than on the entire C2C route.This has been widely covered before, however I have never had problems with cattle in over 50 years of all types of country walking. Sure you get the excited young calves running down and alongside you, but if you remain confident they back off. Ive had a herd of their mums gallop down to me as I approached a gate, but a stern shout soon had them stop.If they crowd a gate or stile, approach calmly and confidently, not too fast and they will get the message and move away.If walking through a field with cows or bulls, find your line, but meander slightly to go round each one and if you don't make eye contact, they shouldn't see you as a threat, and will ignore you.Finally try to keep well away from their young, move slowly to avoid startling them.Dave.

I'm walking the coast to coast this August, but from Robin Hood's Bay to St. Bees. I will be taking notes on pubs, shops, atm's cafe's and camp sites along the route.

Was that taking notes on pubs or IN pubs?

On pubs, I simply can't afford the pub prices nowadays and I'm on the wagon now, cutting my weekly drinking to two pints a week. I guess the coast to coast is going to be a dry run, I may have the odd orange juice every few days. What do there charge for a pint of orange juice in the pubs nowadays, are there rip-off prices.

A farmer told me last week that she believes the increasing problems with cattle over the past few years are as a result of crossing them with Holstein bulls. This increases their aggressive nature!

What is surprising though, is that the deaths caused by cattle occur throughout the countryside fraternity .... vets, farmers, farmhands etc, not just walkers. So there can't be an easy way to identify if any of the ones that you see pose a threat. The maxim is, if they have calves along with them, just be extra vigilant.

The only place I had problems with cows on two crossings was in the field just after the churchyard with the 150 year old man in. The cows were all congregated around the exit stile. I sidled around the edge of the field, put a piece of straw in my mouth and tried to look like a farmer - that seemed to work.

I think that, like Lyme's Disease, the more fractious nature of cows is a growing problem. Twenty years ago both were virtually unknown commodities and something that few, if any, walkers gave a second thought to. In the intervening years both have become an increasing concern that people should now be aware of rather than worried about.

The problems with cows are chiefly (but not always) connected with them having calves to foot and being frightened by dogs, so it is possible, to some extent, to anticipate the situations which create a potential for danger.

That said, the unlucky farmer and vet did not have any pets with them.

Could just be that both increases are down to the fact that more and more people are taking to walking the countryside.There has been a dramatic increase in the number of walkers over the last 10 years in particular.Obviously this fact alone would account for an increase in number of Lyme disease cases and incidents with cattle.It is possible that the farmer and vet simply became victims of complacency.I personally have not noticed any change in cattle behavior over the years, and I do think it is more to do with how some people themselves behave when they come across them.Dave.